The present invention relates to a lubricating device for an escalator or a moving walkway, wherein a step belt of the escalator or a plate belt of the moving walkway is guided between lateral borders and wherein lubricant containers connected with fixed lubrication points by way of lines are provided.
Lubricating devices of the identified general type have the purpose of preventing the increase of friction and the development of noise between escalator/moving walkway base plates and the moving step belt or plate belt as a result of environmental contaminating deposits, which are virtually unavoidable, and which may include dust, abrasives from subway brakes, etc., which collect at base plates of the escalator or moving walkway, as well as deposits from material deterioration.
Japanese patent specification JP 531 9767 discloses a lubricating device for escalators by means of which guide rails for the step belt of the escalator can be lubricated. For this purpose there is provided a solenoid valve which is supplied with power by a battery and which is arranged at an outlet opening of an oil container fastened to an escalator step. A pipe, through which a guide rail for the rear wheel of the escalator step is lubricated, is connected to the valve. A flexible hose, through which the lubricant is led to a guide rail for the front wheel of the escalator step, branches from the pipe. A timer is provided for control of the valve. Fault-free lubrication at the sides of the escalator is not guaranteed. In addition, the escalator step concerned has to be demounted for maintenance operations.
Japanese patent specification JP 08225285 discloses another lubricating device for an escalator in which lubricating agent holders are provided at the side edges of the rear side of the tread and riser of an escalator step. Bristles, which form brushes and which contact the side walls of the escalator, protrude out of the lubricating agent holders. A lubricating agent container fastened to the rear side of the tread is connected to the lubricating agent holders and brushes by way of pipes and wicks inserted in the pipes. The escalator step also has to be demounted for maintenance operations with this lubricating device. Moreover, a relatively large amount of lubricating agent is consumed by the long brushes formed by the bristles; a wide lubricating track, which is only partly covered by the step belt, is formed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a lubricating device of the general kind set forth in which a lubricant container is readily accessible, such that the escalator step does not have to be demounted for maintenance and which generates a precise, covered, narrow lubricant track, conserving the lubricant.
The foregoing and other objects are met by a lubricant device having a lubricant container which is connected by way of lines to lubrication points which are arranged at lateral borders of the step belt of the escalator or of the plate belt of the moving walkway. Sliding pads are provided at the escalator steps/moving walkway plates. The pads project slightly beyond the lateral edges of the steps or plates and, when sliding past the lubrication points, receive the lubricant and transfer it to the lateral borders.
As those skilled in the art will recognize that the objects, effects and execution of the present invention are essentially identical in application to both escalators and moving walkways, for the sake of simplicity its only application to escalators will be described hereinafter.
In a preferred embodiment the lubricant container is arranged within a balustrade base at the upper part of the escalator. Projecting into the lubricant container is a lubricating wick, the other end of which is fastened in the region of the sliding pad to a base plate forming the lateral border and projects through a bore in the base plate, whereby the lubrication point is formed